บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ LAFC Drops One to Sporting KC — And the Internet Loses Its Mind

And he certainly did with that first goal. He and ⁓ on our end, our midfield is just in shambles, our back line is in shambles. Saint Laurice bails us out as much as we can. I can't even think of what this season would be if we didn't have Hugo Loris in goal. Like, he is probably he's probably responsible for at least nine to twelve points on ⁓ on our board at this at this point. And ⁓ you know, Seeb was a guy I liked the first game. I I kinda liked how he played last night too, but just nothing was together for the team. ⁓ the team is has big problems and like I said, we're we haven't hit bottom yet. Celso Oliveira: Mm-hmm. Not bad. Yeah, and maybe we go coast through this. I think we're just gonna kinda coast through this and lose in the playoffs in a you know predictable manner. Let's call it this way. But you know, do you call that crashing and burning? I'm not sure, especially if you think about the roster concerns that we had over this year. And by the way, we talked about Andrea Luiz being Brazilian. I didn't know this much about this guy, but I know that sporting can you and I know that sporting Kansas City is a very intelligent. And organization. They are always there and they haven't been there. So there was pressure to perform, and it looks like they found their guy. And the truth of the matter is within 30 minutes, he decided the game for them with the go at 18. And I believe he had the assisted to Kalera, that weird crossing nobody was expecting. I think that was him. ⁓ you could put that on LAFC's defense, but the truth is this guy is a difference maker, and we saw this. We lacked this player. I don't think neither Bowen. Or Sonny are built to beat this player. But what did you see from Andrea Luis? I don't think SKC is the worst team in this league anymore. So even though our title says that, Eric, help me here in saying like I think this team just got immediately better when this guy got here. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: No, that that's definitely a part of it. they they had a good window and and they're gonna get better as those guys gel even more. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And and the problems we had again, like he was so good you know, that game started out with ⁓ Jude Terry starting on the left side and within ten minutes they had to move Jude Jude Terry over to the right and put ⁓ Shonier in the left just because, you know, we've Celso Oliveira: I had a gray window. They kicked our ass window. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Part of Jude Terry being seventeen and what we've heard from MDS is that his defending needs a lot of work. And, you know, with Cheberko and a midfielder whose defending needs a lot of work, it's just there was nothing we could do. I think when Shonier came in, he kinda started to slow him down a little bit. Still gave problems, but it wasn't quite like the seven alarm fire like it was to start with. So as I said, like we have a really weak midfield right now, and we have a really weak our back line was really weak this game. And so it was kind of inevitable we give up some goals. The only disappointment is is as bad as this group was on defense, they should have been better on offense and they really weren't. Celso Oliveira: ⁓ man, like so we talked about this a little bit 'cause you mentioned something here and I believe this is the starting line of hip lineup here. I'm gonna put it in here and then we can talk a bit about it. and I I I think the criticism to me on the coaching staff and you see a lot of people asking for Mark Del Santos' head, right? And I do believe that he sort of tried too hard on this game and put a lineup that wasn't as I would say dynamic as it needed to be for a team on the road. First off, putting Igor Jesus to start a game on the road based on everything that we've seen from him, just basic Based on 20 minutes at home, I think that was a massive mistake. It set us for ⁓ you know, not success. Same thing with Sergi. Love Sergi, right? But you know, it was he was he already ready to be back? I love this lineup, but it seems to me that he rushed some of these guys back and he doubled down on some concepts that were not proven yet. And this is what Dolo would not do. This is would be the opposite of a dolo. A pragmatic coach would never put this lineup here to begin a game. Right, especially given that we don't know what to expect from these guys. I don't understand. Like, what is it about these dudes? And just walk me under about the mindset of the coaching in putting these 11 players together on the road. Because for the first time, I truly question Mark and his ability to put this deal or keep the shit together. Because I don't believe this is the right lineup to go on the road, given what we had seen at home just a few days before. How the fuck is car Survey Pole? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah. Celso Oliveira: starting a game. So just some things that I saw. Comment to ⁓ you know if you can help me just help me understand what this coaching staff is because I think we're starting to see fragmentation not only from the coaching staff but the players starting to say like I'm not sure what's going on. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. If I'm gonna look at this lineup, to me, this says that they were expecting to face a Kansas City that was gonna put a low block up against them, and that they were gonna have the ball a lot more than they did. And I think the other team got a vote on that and decided that they smelled some blood in the water in LAFC. They had these new pieces in, and they were gonna play at home an attacking possession dynamic transitional game. And I think they were able to pull that off. If they had decided they were gonna kind of play back for some counterattacks this lineup kind of makes sense in that respect, but it's just not what we got. And again, Louise completely abusing us down the left side of our defense really, really changed things up really quick in that game. To the point, like I said, you

know, ⁓ the game plan switched basically 10 minutes into the game where all of a sudden the midfielders got moved and Shonier was said, Hey, you gotta help cover Schaberko over here. So that pulls Shonier out of the attack. Now you have Jude Terry and a brand new Igor Jesus who have to facilitate getting the ball to the forwards. And Jude Terry on the right side is a very famous ⁓ viral heat map now or the passing patterns with nothing going to sun, I think that directly reflects on kind of Jude Terry being on the right side, ending up on the right side there and trying to progress the ball up. And same same with Seeb, like that whole right side just didn't work. Celso Oliveira: Hmm. Yeah, and and again, and this is what I'm trying to say. Like we we've been trying to find the magic touch for that right side and and it it just has been nothing. And my comments about David Martinez leaving now versus in three months. Sometimes i it maybe it was a little bit harsh, but as I it's basically like we're giving up, right? Because this guy was the only one that actually was working, and then we just let him go on the right side, and of course he was hurt, but he was gonna come back in a time that we really needed him, and I still feel that he would have been better than anything that we had. And again, to start Palencia over Holland's head here, not allow him to get minutes before coming in, you know, I do believe that had was yet another thing I disagree with. When he's off, he's really off. And it's expected for him to not be ready, man. He's just coming back. So I give this I give this ⁓ you know this coachy staff a D minus for this starting lineup because I I really feel that they try or in their minds they thought that they had things here in this in this lineup that I did not see it. And then very quickly they try to get out of it. And now you're audibling, you know, your game plan, whatever you discussed with your team was not there. And within 30 minutes, SKC had us figure out and it was two nothing. And you will not come back. This team will never come back from a two nothing deficit with this roster and coaching stuff. It's just never gonna happen. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: You y Yeah, y you know, I I do think regarding Palencia and if you look you have long out Celso Oliveira: I'm not being harsh on him, I just think he's not ready. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: No, no, I don't think that I think I think Hall look, if he doesn't play it means that Hollingshead plays, and I think Hollingshead is just gassed and needed to rest. I thought I don't think there was really much they could do. Now, you could say, Okay, well, maybe they should have put Nielsen over there on the right, and and I think that could be a fair end. Celso Oliveira: She's not fucking ready, man. Kenny played pretty well. We talked about keeping Kenny. Thank you. Sorry, I I I I'm I'm I'm I was worked up about that because that was something that we we discussed directly. I'm like, look, Kenny Nielsen's been given us serviceable minutes and we don't feel that he's at the level of the other guys. And I think this was a perfect game to keep Kenny in there and it didn't happen. So I lost opportunity for us, lost opportunity for LAFC and Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ yeah. No and this and our our schedule our schedule just gets tougher now too. Celso Oliveira: It it gets nasty. We'll go through real quick. Let's move on here. Sorry. ⁓ I think we've talked enough about this game. ⁓ Bartlett, homegrown guy, seventy first minute, three one. Again, we try to show something with Denny Bolonga. Again, and it and again, if anything, we saw one of our guys score. Sonny had another assist. It was a hockey assist, but we got it. Sheffelberg got involved. I think it's still around those three guys, the magic formula, not putting Sheffelberg way up there. But that's kind of where we need to work through it. That's what we Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. Celso Oliveira: need to work towards those three guys. you know, this was a Raposo game too. I thought Raposo could have played instead of Palencia, right? But again, if Palencia said, hey, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, and Mark's like, this is the worst team in the league, I think this is this is horrible coaching. Sorry. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: And and also look it ⁓ They did, yeah. Well Riposo can't defend Raposo's horrible on defense though. Like he's awful on defense. So I I get that. Celso Oliveira: Okay, but if you have Kenny behind him and you could put him in the midfield, which is was always with been this guy has never been a fullback. He doesn't have size for a fullback. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: But the other thing no for sure. And the other thing too the other thing too is that, you when Shaffelberg did get in and they actually LAFC did they did a good amount of crossing on this game when those guys were in as well. So we did see more crossing and we did see more chances. But again, the players just couldn't finish it. I mean, Sonny, he he takes too many touches with the ball. The Sonny that I remember seeing from Tottenham, he gets the ball and he shoots and it puts it in. Here it's like he gets the ball and he takes three or four touches and just he gets closed down and and and that's it. And so that's one of the things with his game is he just looks indecisive. He looks like he has no confidence in it. Even when he does get the ball into a scoring position, he just can't seem to get it off of his foot and shoot it into the net. I know plenty of people will blame the midfield for that problem, but Sunny not shooting the ball quickly is not a midfield problem. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, I I d I think Sonny is so rated. He's trying to kind of do too much, which is common of str ⁓ stars in in you know, then sort of taking the responsibility on themselves and saying, Hey, I'm gonna do more and sometimes that's not a good formula. It actually counter it's

counterproductive and there's been a little bit of that. What do you think of the graph side so I now let's talk a little bit about the internet drama of Sun Hang because there's two by the way I can never say his middle name. I'm so sorry. I don't even know if his middle name is, but I Yum Ming. Yeah, I know it's Young but Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ yeah. Son Hyong Min. Celso Oliveira: I like to say heung because I'm from a country that says heung, right? EU, but that's just me. But really with Sunny, I think that's beyond his frustration and his positioning, right? Which is what we talked about. Now we're talking about well, is he effective enough to be everything he used to be? So is Sunny washed is what I'm trying to say, right? Because apparently one of our fellow podcasters ⁓ said something like that and got a lot of heat from Korean media, right? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: No no. No, they had a guest. They had a call in guest say something and everybody's going out. Celso Oliveira: Thank you. Thank you. Right, right. So the calling guest comes in and says what's on his mind, and Korea media takes this as the podcasters are attacking us. So then they have to go on the air and say, look, look, even though they're here, we're not condoning it. We're just basically saying, hey, they're entitled to their opinion. We're a platform for fans, right? We're a platform for fans. Thank you. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. We're a platform for fans to call into the show. And then and then and then the the crazy bots who are criticizing this, and they've came after me plenty of times too, so I know all about it. ⁓ then they start saying, Well, you should have you should have ⁓ yanked them off the air once they said that if you really mounted, it's just like you guys are fucking crazy. ⁓ you know, and Celso Oliveira: Well, it's something that we produ you know, it this country really believes in having freedom of speech. And if you can't have it as force, it's really a bad sign that conversation's gonna go anywhere. You're entitled to an opinion. Even if it's a shitty one. I do this every week. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. I'm look I'm inclined to think it's just kind of a small group of very vocal people or possibly even bots on the Twitter that go through this. And 'cause like I know plenty, plenty of the fans that started getting into LAFC because of Sun and I I I don't think they're all that completely fucking idiotic. Like I know they're not all that idiotic. I think it's just a really loud, small group of people. And that's pretty much it. And it's kinda like the same ten accounts that amplify everything. And it's just like, You guys, stop being soft. Like this is sports. You criticize people when they're bad. You praise them when they're good. This is not like a fucking cult. So and Celso Oliveira: It's not. And and it seems like that sometimes from the outside looking in and I'm like, Whoa, guys, whoa. You know, it's just we we like our team and we want them to do well. And once they do well, we praise him. And I think that was a shitty game. And if you lost to your bottom feeders of the game of the league, they got a new guy, they got a shiny new weapon, and they just freaking shined ⁓ upon us. And here we are, we were still figuring things out. Is it the coach's fault? Is it Sonny's positioning? Is he taking too long with the ball? Is Danibo ugly? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. This Celso Oliveira: Doing enough. There's all these questions, but that's what we care about. It's a collective body that puts three points on the board. And I've always said you go on the road in MLS, however, you're always insusceptible to just taking a fucking beating and not even seeing where you come from. It's about what you do in the next game, and it's about what you do over time. Last five games, LAFC did not look great. Last seven games, LAFC does not look great. So the retrospect for this team, the momentum for this team is going into the opposite direction. Eric. That's the bigger question. That's what we're seeing. The guys who used to be effective, they're not being effective. You mentioned your team doing well, your NFL team doing well this weekend. Well, I was a little bit distracted with SKC just giving us everything because I was watching Ohio State just get her asses handed to them little by little to Texas. And again, completely different sport. But as a fan, when you know, you know. And when you see a team that's cooked, you see them. He's like, ⁓ God. This is not going the right direction. And it's not about the SKC game. It's about what's been happening over the last month and a half. So what are the changes? What do we do from here? Do you let it crash and burn? I think that based on what we have from next game, for example, let's just start talking about San Jose. Where do we go from here? Is this really you don't think it's rock bottom? I think it's very possible we take a win against ⁓ San Jose because they have not looked good since the break. But let's start talking about what is rock bottom for this team. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: I mean I I I think I think rock bottom is going to be ⁓ having to do the ⁓ do the play in game to make it to the playoffs. I think. I think that's probably around where I see us sitting right now. Maybe we make ⁓ what is it, the the seventh seed, right? That's the cause it's the eighth and the ninth that play to get into the playoffs. So that's kind of that's kind of where I see us. I just don't see this team improving. And, you know, as you s I said up when we got rid of Martinez I I said this is this is a rebuild. They're blowing it up right now. People are like, why would they get rid of Martinez? Because they're no longer looking at this season anymore. They're writing off the season is done. So all that's aside, I think we will continue to see tinkering with the lineups, which look, in the short term it's gonna suck. Yeah, in the

short term it's gonna suck, but in the medium and long term, we are gonna see if guys who have been on the bench got what it takes to come up here and step up to the next level. Celso Oliveira: You gotta try these guys now. Yeah. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: I think there needs to be a huge house cleaning this offseason. ⁓ if I'm just gonna go through guys who I think ⁓ sorry, ⁓ I'm gonna say wash, but not not t I I do think probably Tillman, Delgado, Hollingshead, I think these guys I think the years have caught up to them and they're not at they're not at that level. The league has gotten better and better, and guys that are declining will not hack it in this league anymore. So those are guys right off the top that need to go. Celso Oliveira: Oof. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Is Shonnier good enough for this lineup? I'm not sure. You know, he's a very cheap guy. He could be on the bench, but you know, it's time to start seeing like who who can play there. So in the meantime, I think Igor Jesus has to get a lot of minutes, whether he sinks or he swims. He's got to get minutes so we see what we have with him. If he's a piece that we can rely on for next season. And I think Nielsen also has to get out there. And it's just look, it is what it is. If you're gonna put your kids out there and get them experience and you come up short on games, I think. it turns into not as big of a deal because you have a point, you know? If you're putting in kind of these older guys, if you're doing the same thing and not getting different results, that's a definition of insanity. Then it's kinda like, what's the point? 'Cause this offense is so anemic right now, it's just not doing much and it's really it's really tough to watch at the end of the day. Celso Oliveira: ⁓ my god, it really is. And ⁓ you know, it makes you wonder how f how long the sun has. I I can't do this this this view here 'cause it just literally covers our entire face. I'm sorry. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Sun, I think Sun I think Sun's got like three years left to him at least. They're gonna build around the guy. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, well, you know, but you never know if he's really gonna stick around. Like these guys, it's they're one call away from making a move. I I don't think this is Giroux again. I really don't. I think he is it's not gonna be like that. I really don't. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: No, I think he is. I think he is. I think Look, Celso, Celso, as ⁓ you know, I I live plenty of time plenty of time in Hollywood. I also am a very avid golfer in Los Angeles, and ⁓ I know the Korean community in Los Angeles. It's a big community, it's one of the biggest on the planet, and Sonny wants to be here just to tap into that. So I think him being here is not even so much about LAFC as much as it's about what he wants to do now, where he wants to spend his time. You know, all all of the big ⁓ pop stars come through here, he gets to hang out with them, he gets to continue to be an icon in the midst of a big community here. So I think Sonny's gonna be here for probably three more years at least. And so with that being the case, you need to build the team around him better. And a lot of the pieces on this don't match. Mark Dosantos is probably not the right coach for him. And you really now gotta look at this and say, okay, Sun Hyongmin is our centerpiece, just like Carlos Vella was our centerpiece. How do we make this team work around him? Because he's gonna be here. I don't buy this. He's not going anywhere. He said he wants to be here. I take him at his word for that. I think he's gonna be here for at least three or four years. So we we have to do something with the team around. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, and if it's getting Richard Lesson, that would be fun, right? He just comes in like another Tottenham player and ⁓ someone that just makes him play better around him, someone that he knows well, like maybe a couple of of of other Korean players that played with him before. Just someone has to be in there for him to start performing and be happy again and find and the body language is getting a little bit heavy. If you rewatch the first goal for LFC, the only goal for LAFC, the body language is very heavy. That game was not Lost for all those guys to be looking that defeated after going down two to one to SKC. They could have given him more, but you see everybody sort of like half smiling, nobody's really celebrating a goal. It just seems like they given up. Maybe that's what this lineup is all about. It's interesting you named some of these midfielders that you did because none of them were playing. It Jude Terry, Igor Jesus, right? Guys in the midfield that we've been asking for, not named Tim Tillman or Marky Delgado. I actually Erik Hultstrom Section 128: It's not. Celso Oliveira: Disagree with you. I think any chance that you have in this league still to perform is gonna have to basically have these type of guys, these Marky Delgados of the world, bro. Marky makes maybe a little bit too much money, but I still think he's better minutes playing than most guys, and we will not be able to get like top quality money dudes in the midfield because of rostered construction. I know that we know that for a fact, you and I do. So I don't necessarily think Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Sure. Celso Oliveira: I think the problem is there. I think the midfield dudes that you've mentioned could give us valuable minutes. Junior, like you said, for his price, look at the New York Red Bull game, man. He had a great game. And I think he's been asked to be Steven Elstaccio. He's like, hey man, you're gonna have to be Steven Elstaccio out there. And it's like, but I'm not Steven Elstaccio, I'm Jonier, motherfucker. But that's what he's being asked to do too much, right? And I think that's the problem with a lot of these guys. Hey, Chabo. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Twenty two K a year. No, no, twenty two K a year you don't move on from He's he's not

not yeah, you don't Celso Oliveira: Burko, go be the next fucking fullback, even though you just got here. This dude is like, ⁓ my god, it's Columbus Crew all over again. Hey, don't be surprised if we see another coach and it's the old Columbus Crew guy, man. It would be, you know, a Wilfred Nancy here would be a good fit, I think. I think he's the type of guy that could give LAFC structure, discipline, get most of the guys. And I don't think it's out of our league. I don't think it's like bringing Jose Mourinho in here. We don't have to restart the Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ yeah. So I I have spoke many times to some of the Columbus crew podcasters who are pretty adamant that Wilfred Nancy is dead set on having his next job in Europe. He does not want you know, he doesn't want to come back over here to MLS. He wants it in Europe. So I think that's a tough one. Celso Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I think okay. But bro, like if if he doesn't get that and if he sits on the shelf one more year at his age, maybe he can come to LAFCO a short term really do well and then move on to Europe like he wants. So maybe his Europe job is one job away. You know, sometimes you need to get a gap job to get to where you really want to be. So I think we maybe can pitch something to him that way. Or find someone that can, god damn it. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. You know, and it and No, for sure. I know you and Yeah, and I know you you push back on like Delgado. You know, of course we need veteran midfield presence, but he'll he'll be thirty-two next season and this is just a young guy league. And so it's like There's nothing wrong with these players, but I think we basically need to find the Marky Delgado that's four years younger in the league who's somewhere I haven't I haven't really thought about who fits that profile that I can name off, but but he's not a he's not like a unique talent in the league. He's a journe journeyman MLS guy, and there are twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight year old journeyman MLS guys who can play that same role over here. Which basically was what Kellen Acosta did. And when he got too old, like we moved on from him and we brought in Delgado. And it's it's kind of time to move on from Delgado and now I'm bringing another guy three years younger. Celso Oliveira: I mean Delgado certainly has had his time with us. Again, I would love for him to continue to be part of our of our roster. And if we can find a room for him, I think he's a I think he will continue to be a good player, can give us minutes. Had ⁓ dominant role and then moves into a more secondary role, still giving us two seasons that you know, again, just that kind of t stand-up guy. I still believe he's one of those. But Erik Hultstrom Section 128: It's not personal, it's just business. Celso Oliveira: Beyond that, it starts looking a little thin. I think Tim Tillman is the kind of guy who can move around this league and actually get value. One of the things you and I

haven't talked too much about is how weak LAFC has been in this intra league kind of trading s you know, sending players and actually getting players like top players like I I feel like we've always sorta exporting the players and going to Europe to bring the next big thing instead of looking in s inwards for guys like Gabriel Piranha, which is now in San Diego. We talked about this, or an evander, which is a star no matter where you put him. So Dudes like that that are still are they are already major league soccer and can help you right get to your objectives, whichever they are. So I don't think LAFC has been that good into the inner league trading market, which is a new thing for all these teams. And some of these teams have really benefited from it, like a Nashville, which is able to just offload some of their guys and get good quality dudes in exchange. So Eric, we gotta talk a little bit about the next game. We have to move On too much negativity, however, around this team in the middle of September. I understand more than anyone because I just if you watch that Ohio State, Texas game when you see something going down, it's going down, and I see this with LAFC too, but I still think it's early to panic, and I think there's way too much talent among these guys for them not to figure out in three months. We have three months into a final. So let's talk about San Jose, which is always a tough game for us. We lost badly to them the last. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: So going down is going down. Celso Oliveira: time but it's also an opportunity for redemption if you're Mark Dosantos because he got his ass kicked last time really really bad. However, as you said, the schedule gets extremely challenging and if things start going bad, I can foresee a coaching change very soon. I would say as soon as the LA Galaxy game. Which could we ⁓ yeah I think if we go on a losing streak and we lose every single game and there's a chance we could because these are very good opponents the LA Galaxy game could become a game that things get Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Really? Celso Oliveira: Much tougher for us. Will we be there? I don't think so. I think LAFC will not just roll over and die yet. I think it will be a much slower, controlled, and very systematic death. But it will happen, like you're saying, and you're predicting. So all right, let's break it down, boss. San Jose, you were you at the game where they just completely smashed as you weren't, but like what do you remember of that complete smashing? ⁓ that we just didn't know what was going on. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: I remember it sucked. Yeah, what was that game? It was like four to one or four to nothing. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, and and it was a warning sign for sh it was a warning shot for us is if you just put yourself back into that game because ⁓ you know we we were hiding riding very high in the beginning of the season and then suddenly we get to that game and we get our asses kicked at home,

which hasn't happened under Dolo. And then that's the big difference. Dolo always kept it close, even when he lost. It was never like a fucking smashing and then here suddenly we see the team cave in and completely ⁓ fall apart after thirty, forty minutes. So ⁓ is Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ that's right. That's right. Over my Timo Werner. Celso Oliveira: Timo had a game and it was one of his first games with that team. I think he's settled down now, you know, and it's not as not as not as impactful. These dudes really struggle in in hot temperature. It's been hot and it's starting to cool down. And I think that could be a good, by the way, a good thing for us too. When the cool temperature goes down, our injury goes down our fatigue goes down. That helps us a bit. Team that's a little bit older. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: He wasn't Celso Oliveira: But now we gotta go to San Jose, play that team. We haven't we're not gonna be in home for a long time, too. It's gonna be tough. But ⁓ expectations for that game, Eric. Do you see more shit coming? Or is this an opportunity for us to show that? Guess what? XKC, it just happens, guys. It's L it's MLS. Sometimes you lose. You gotta move on from them. Here comes the next game. We come we came from a win. We had a win in the midweek, right? Don't forget that. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah, we have ⁓ yeah, we traveled to Dallas after San Jose. So and that's Dallas is a pretty strong team right now as well. So fun, fun, fun. The party doesn't stop. And then ⁓ and then we're home and then we're home the next week versus Vancouver. Celso Oliveira: Okay. This is what I'm saying. So you could go on the road, lose two in a row, and then come home, have a very tough challenging game against Vancouver, and suddenly there's one more game to decide everything, which is what? It's the Galaxy game. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Well. ⁓ yeah. And then and then after Vancouver, let's not forget we're playing Austin and Austin Celso Oliveira: ⁓ Austin? Yes, Austin on the road. And then you have a na a galaxy game coming up after that, right? At home. Jesus. I'm everywhere. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: No, no, Austin, we're Austin at home, but Austin is on a bit of a tear lately. Like Aust Austin has been putting up some wins. So they're they're kind of hot right now. Celso Oliveira: So you see what I'm saying, right? This can go down, this is this c this can get out of control really, really fast. And it can look really, really bad. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, but by the look by the time we play Carson we have we're we're practically done with the season at that point, you know, so it's Celso Oliveira: Right. Which is why I'm saying that if it gets to that point, maybe, you know, we we conversations will be had. And, you know, i i i i I don't think LASC misses the playoffs, but if we're looking that dismal, i it could be the beginning of a change. I don't know. I don't wanna say anything, but we hope so because it just looks that bad. All right. Eric, let's talk about this weekend's lineup. The show's been a little bit off. I apologize. I recognize that. ⁓ Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ yeah, it's ⁓ we're we're all crazy from this last week. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, and then it's just hard to keep talking about just smashing. There's just really very little positivity and ⁓ I do have to you know, we do have to move on, however, and just talk about this weekend and ⁓ I'm going just throw a line up out there, you tell me if it's good or not. in right wing right I I think making making Palencia a starter was a big mistake. He's not a starter right now, and you should recognize that this whole concept of ⁓ you're back from injury and you're immediately a starter is a massive error for me. So I think he's benched for this game. You start Shabirko on the right and you start Hollins at on the left. In the middle, it's seems like people are getting injured and whatnot, but our best two centers have been Portius and Long. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Anyway, the news paragraph is there for me. So Celso Oliveira: Right. And I think those two should continue to be so. Segura coming back from injury also should be on the bench. In the middle, I like what you said earlier, Igor Jesus, ride or die. We gotta see what we got from this kid now. If he's ready, he's gonna start every single game. Right next to him, I don't know if you now start Shaburko because ⁓ excuse me, ⁓ Shunier, the two of them didn't gel as you said, and you gotta have to move things around, and then Jude Terry on the other side. That was an explosive poor midfield. composition. So ⁓ I don't know where Tim Tillman is, but if he's back, I would give him some minutes and ⁓ yeah. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: I think he's gonna be he's gonna be injured still. I I think Long and Portius are gonna be injured as well. Celso Oliveira: You think so too? Okay. So if that's the case, it changes it. And again, questionable is ⁓ it's really hard for us to talk about, right? It's Monday. We don't know how these guys are. That's why I'm saying entertain me with the lineup, Eric. Entertain me with it. All right. So if Tillman's injured, forget it. If Tillman's injured, I think you give continue to give Jude Terry minutes. Jude Terry's needs to see minutes, right? But Tillman's still a better piece. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm entertaining. Yeah, I Yeah, I I think of all of them, I think Tillman Yeah, of all the injuries, I think Tillman has the least chance that he's coming back. I think he's gonna be out for a little for like probably a few more weeks. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, and again, I'm sorry, I have not been catching up on his particular injury, and I don't know what the timetable is. But if that's the case, then you would just put Delgado. I like to see Delgado start if he could. ⁓ but if not, you gotta write. And especially in a journey air position, right? Because again, I didn't

think like a gel. Or you just do Shonier and ⁓ and eager And and and Mark. I think that's probably our best midfield today, right? It we could probably arrive with those guys. Up front, I would like to see Shuffleberg by default starting. Whether he starts in as a fourth midfielder and we're really playing in a four four two with him just really kind of in between or ⁓ with Sonny being in the false nine and then Ebonga up front. I still think Shuffleberg is kind of our best offensive threat among these other two dudes. So That would be my lineup for ⁓ you know, Bruce Arena and Esc and San Jose. A very tough draw, no matter what they have and where they are going. The times that we've played them usually is a very tough game. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, this gets tough because I Bruce is one of the best American coaches that there's ever been. I think there is a strong argument he's the best coach. ⁓ there's some other ones. You know, obviously Bob Bradley's up there, Ziggy Schmidt is up there, but Bruce Serena is kind of the Bill Belichick of MLS coaches. So ⁓ I'm gonna go with a lineup and and there's a couple ways like Celso Oliveira: Your lineup, Eric. He's the goat. Mm. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: If if I was a good smart manager, like I might just change things up completely just to fuck with Bruce. And I'll kind of I'll kind of do that as like my my substitutions at half if we go down. But to start the game, I think we're basically gonna see ⁓ Shaberico, Tefari, Segura, and Hollingshead. And it's just because I think Long and Portius are injured. But if either Long or Portius are good to go with this game. I think Segura will be replaced first and Tefari will be placed second in that order if they're both ready to go. In the midfielder, yes, we gotta stick with Igor Jesus. He is the future. I think they put Delgado in with him and Shonier. I I see I see that with you as well. Up front, I would like to go with Bowanga, Sun, and Seeb again. Like I just see a lot of potential in Seeb and let's keep him going until the the Brazilian guy gets his V sig and come here. Now Where I will change things up is if we go down an early goal, I think we need to switch to three center backs immediately. And we need to pull Hollingshead and we need to put in Shaffelberg as a left wing back. And I think we will also need to pull ⁓ probably Schonier and put in Raposo as a right wing back. And we start needing to play more of a not a 3 2 3 because Seeb all want him to tuck in. But I think we'll just need to start spamming crosses into basically Sun and Seeb who will need to get into the box. And possibly a third center back can charge the box as well. Tefari, make a run and and crash the box as well. And and kind of see if we can do something that way. I know crosses have not worked out, but I I think that that's something Bruce will not have game plan for. Now, dealing with Bruce's counterattack is gonna be a whole nother issue that they'll have to deal with, but But that's kind of my fantasy lineup. If we go down a goal, I would immediately switch to a three back with wing backs and really try to pour it on because like we we don't come back from one zero defeats and so if we lose one nothing or we lose four nothing, it's like it's zero points. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, something I didn't ask you about, right? Because last year we had Razov right out there, Ante, and you know, Mark Dos Santos was an assistant and of course Dolo was your guy, right? And You know, no matter the no matter the lineup, by the way I love I love your lineup. I love your your creativity with the wing backs. I think that's just kinda like something that if Mark really wants to get out of this rut, he needs to think about, whether it's a wing back formation, something that changes how L how LFC gets defended against. Something has to be there. But look good. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: You know, Celso, one thing I gotta say is there's a part of me that wonders if Mark listens to our show because it seems like a lot of the crazy lineups I come up with, all of a sudden it's like there the next Sunday or these ideas. Like we saw a lot of crosses from Shaffelberg, which he does. So ⁓ anyways, if if he's listening to me and this is causing this, I'm sorry. I'm just a podcaster. Celso Oliveira: Yeah. Well I look, man, I I think you're a very logical guy. You're not just a podcaster. I think I think you're a very logical person and I think you do have a pulse on the team better than I do sometimes. And that's why I like doing the show with you, because you kinda see it in a way that it makes sense. He's just logical guy. And it's very logical that we would explore something of that manner given the roster construction that we have and the dudes that we have, like Raposo and Sheffelberg, which are a little crossing happy, but are not necessarily ness nasty fullbacks. They're they're not, you know, box to box, ⁓ line to line, you say sideline to the sideline guy. It's just not the Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the rut that and the rut that we're in, like we just need to do something to get out of this rut. And maybe it doesn't work, but if it doesn't work, we're still in the same rut anyways. It's kind of just trying something different. Celso Oliveira: Not touch the line we should call. Yeah, I mean we're on a run, no matter what, and we're gonna we're gonna get we're gonna figure this out in good or bad. The big teams always go through some stuff and you figure it out. That's what good teams do. You figure it out. Okay. Of course the best part of the show by the way, the chat is not working at all. I can't see anybody's comment. I'm really pissed. I apologize for that. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ dude, I've been in the chat. That's why you see me over here 'cause I have a computer screen. ⁓ dude, no, our our chat is our chat has been raging. Like, no, we have a huge chat in here

tonight. Celso Oliveira: Well you've been on the chat. You've been on the chat, but I can't see the fucking chat. I can't see the chat. Good. I'm glad. I'm glad you guys are there. But the reason why you guys are not seeing your comments on is because this thing doesn't allow me put them on. I'm not seeing it, it's not syncing. So I'm sorry for that. I apologize and I'm glad you guys are having good conversations out there. Because I'm frustrated too. We've been like going to these games for too long. Sorry. I was gonna ask you about this because It seems to me that now it's all about Mark dos Santos. And the question that I had earlier to you is remember the outgoing interview when I think I was the one that asked because I was in Vancouver and I told Dolo, yo, like you know, what is how do you you know evaluate your tenure at LAFC? And he goes, like, you know what? I'm not for everybody, but we always had someone on our staff that the players could talk to. And I feel like right now. I don't know if the players have more than Mark to talk to. I don't know any of the assistants. I don't know if there's an Arazov type guy there that is helping these players develop. I don't even know if Oka is still there. He wasn't on the big picture or something. So could it be that we're just you know, I don't I think Mark did a lot of things right, but could it be that he just missed on his assistance big time when he was kind of just putting his staff together? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. Celso Oliveira: 'Cause it seems like this who else do you could who who else do you believe within our coaching staff can advance this team? Like who do you know of these guys? Duran? Is that his name? We don't even Enrique Duran, is that our ⁓ assistant coach's name? Who are they? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Well Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it could be. I don't know, you know, I saw the or as a comment somewhere. Yeah, they're they're they're kind of a Celso Oliveira: You don't know either, exactly my point. We don't fucking know who they are, Eric. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah. I wonder sometimes if there you know, one thing is Razov, we don't know if he just kind of left because he felt he was passed up for a job that he wanted or what, you know, or or or if it was something personally that he conflicted, which I don't think it is. Those guys ⁓ that coaching room has all been together. Yeah, I I think it was more of getting passed over than it was like a dislike or not getting along with MDS. That's just my my thoughts, but MDS is a day he Celso Oliveira: Got passed over, didn't wanna stay to be someone second. That's very simple to me. Sorry. He wanted to be the head coach. And it's like, yeah, you know what I as a coach, I'm not sticking around. It's very simple. Love guy within the organization. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. No, and MDS is a they're all kind of data guys at this point too. And so sometimes I wonder if it's like it's too much data driven guys

and you need like a human driven person like Razov is. Like, you know, you wanna talk about Razov digging into data on computers? Like he doesn't strike me as that guy. He's like the guy that gets out there and says, No, fucking work harder. Yeah, let's go. I'll fucking punch you in the face. You know, Celso Oliveira: Mm. Not tactical Remember that? Hey coach, could you tell me a little bit about why you sacked this guy from like, you know, your lineup? Not a tactical! Not a tactical sub Okay, thank you for your time. It's been a pleasure talking to you. Fuck you. So I think we need a more of that. Maybe this would have been a better fit than you know, if you if you listen to Mark, he's very methodical. He's a pla he'd a people person. He's very political in how he speaks. ⁓ you know. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Celso Oliveira: I think this team just needs to be a little bit more composed into the last ten minutes. Rezov would not be talking like that. So I do believe there's something about this locker room that it's a little bit fishy. I don't like it. I'm very concerned. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Look and and You know, I've ⁓ I spent a lot of years owning and running businesses and managing teams of people. And to this, you know, when you have a team of people, different people in that team respond to different stimuli. You know, there's some that you can sit down and have a rational argument. There's some that you need to yell at. You know what I mean? And ⁓ Marcos Santos doesn't look like a yeller. And none of the other guys look like yellers. And some of those guys in that team, they probably Celso Oliveira: Cars. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: They probably just need to be sat down and given a good hard spanking, you know what I mean? And ⁓ who's the disciplinarian on that on that coaching staff? And and I'm just speculating 'cause I don't know what happens in the coaching room or any of that, but but you but you wonder. It makes me wonder, you know. Celso Oliveira: No, you're not you're right. You're right. ⁓ yeah, so did you see the the broadcast? I believe it was during the Red Bull game, they kinda showed J T, right? Did you see that? I don't know if you caught the glimpse of it. D Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, well he was up on the roof again with the little hm Celso Oliveira: Who was next to him? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ I didn't see that part. Will Farrell. Celso Oliveira: Data guys. Data guys. I know those data guys. They're great data guys. They know their shit. But they're data guys. All right. That's who's next to him. So I'm gonna say 'cause I have respect for them. I don't I'm not a critic, but that's who's next to him. That's who's in his ear. It's data guys. I wanted to have him on the show. It'll be fun to talk data with those dudes. And one day when maybe we'll happy. But that's what drives this organization. And nobody's being able to translate the data into action, especially in the offensive side of the ball. That graph we saw, Sonny, that's ridiculous. You can be a fucking dot by yourself when you're a twenty million dollar man. That is not gonna fly in this organization, whether it's your fault or the coaching staff's fault. Get some data, guys, and figure that fucking dot, guys, because that dot doesn't make any sense. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. Hey. No man, hey. Data guys are all nerds and we need a couple guys in there who aren't nerds. I think there's just too many nerds in the coaching room right now. Celso Oliveira: I know but that's what I'm saying. Like the data is not being translated into action. So, you know, whether it's not a nerd or not, you need the translator. I work in that very field and we have people that have to basically feed the masses the data and get the inside of it. Data is just data if you don't derive the inside of it. So I think LAFC is missing that punisher, which If you think about what we had in our coaching staff, it was a guy like Razov and it was a guy like Dolo. Dolo would just kinda go in there and say, Hey guys, it's not good enough. I'm a fucking asshole. You guys gonna have to do this again. It's not perfect. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Well Can you imagine can you imagine Bob Bradley and Razov how much like Alpha Dog was in that locker room? 'Cause Bob Bradley he don't take no shit either. Celso Oliveira: Exactly, which is why I think Bob Bradley's ⁓ you know, I would say locker rooms would go to shit so easily. Because that was just too much. So then it's just pff pressure would just blow up, right? So it's just too much. All right. 50 minutes of just shit housing and talking smack. And I think I'm done with it. So it just again, we gotta talk predictions. ⁓ Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah, that's true. And when he lost it, he lost it. Yeah. We have a great chat. We must we must just have to have a disorganized shit talking show more often and Celso Oliveira: I love it because it's it's it people like need a place to vent. So again, it will keep it going. I'm happy for that. And and I'm and I'm jealous 'cause I can't I can't see the chat. I mean I was trying to save with somebody, Eric, and I the fact that I can't see the fucking chat is driving me nuts. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Jess, Mikey, Ernest, O Z V, Pookie, Tommy. Space Echoes. ⁓ man, yeah. Good good chat. ⁓ sorry, yeah, I I missed a bun I missed a bunch of you guys, but yeah. Celso Oliveira: Good check. Good check. All right. ⁓ yeah. Well, housekeeping, guys. I I I'm not equipped to do the drawing yet, but I know we still have to do the Eddie Ste Steady Eddy drawing. It's gonna happen, all right. ⁓ I will prepare this. We're not gonna have a show on Thursday, I don't think, Eric. But I will prepare this for next Monday. It's just been hectic. I apologize. ⁓ so if you're still interested the word is steady, I just go through it and find them. So Erik Hultstrom Section 128: We c we I can. Well let's let's not for sure say

no show on Thursday. Like if you can do it, I can do it. But ⁓ if you can't, you can't. So just follow us on Twitter and we'll we'll shout it out on Thursday whether we're doing a show or not. But ⁓ if Wednesday sucks, we might we might need to do a show just to like really get pissed. And then ⁓ and then you can Yeah. And we'll we'll give away we'll we'll let's give away something, even if it's just like I have some extra Jerude scarfs. I could give away a Jerude scarf. Celso Oliveira: Yeah, and I'm it looks like I might Erik Hultstrom Section 128: D would anybody want a Jerude scarf as a prize? Celso Oliveira: If I if I had money if I had money I would give away a ticket to the top golf. You know what I'm saying? That would be baller. Five hundred dollar value. ⁓ Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yeah. ⁓ Chief Mikey is asking, Where's the David Martinez card? Celso Oliveira: What is Chief Mikey the one that won? Cause like we need to ship that fucker out, man. Like if the guy doesn't give us the address, I don't even remember who won. But if you won, just give me the fucking address. It's ready to ship. I have all the shit here. It just gotta go out. But if I don't know where to ship this motherfucker, how am I gonna get rid of it? It's still beautifully and ready to ship whoever you are. I forgot who you were, but if you're there, please give me your address. I can send it out. Hey man. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: All right. Celso doesn't even know who win it. Basically, anybody in the chat right can say, ⁓ it was me. And he's like, ⁓ fucking no. Let's just, hey, let's just yeah. Redraw. Redraw. Next show. Next show, David Martinez, and then we'll do a all right. Space Echoes Jess says Jerude Scarf. So, all right. That's the giveaway is next three shows. We'll do Martinez, we'll do Segura, then we'll do the Jerude Scarf. Which looking at our team right now, like Celso Oliveira: Okay, I think we might have to redraw Yes listen in, there's be two cars. Where is it? I'll I'll get it later. I'll get it later. ⁓ shit. Okay, all right. We're not gonna be giving out the top golf, but we'll give it out this. Okay. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Maybe it wasn't Jarud the whole time. Maybe it was our fucking coach Coach's bitch asses. Celso Oliveira: No, it was not your roo, brother. It was not your roo. If we Shuffleberg, it would be different. Can I get a prediction from you, please? What do you think this game's gonna be in the weekend? Erik Hultstrom Section 128: ⁓ man, against Bruce, I think I think we're gonna Man, like I I honestly with every fiber of my being, I want LAFC to win out the season. Like, I'm not like let's lose so we can fire people. Like this is not me. I want this team to win. But I but I just think Bruce is gonna fucking two nothing us, maybe three nothing us. Bruce is gonna embarrass this team. And we have it we have injuries where it hurts right now, and we have guys coming in without experience, and I think all that's gonna get advantage in in Celso Oliveira: Okay. Ha ha ha ha. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: They're playing this at fucking Levi's with like s I don't know if sixty thousand people are gonna show up, but it could be a big turnout. Yeah, it's a Levi games. So prime time embarrassment coming. Two zero. Now I'm gonna say let me say three zero. Celso Oliveira: ⁓ it's the Levi game. ⁓ shit, not the Levi game. Not the Levi games. No, I I'm I'm I'm no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm calling it 3-2, 3-2 loss, but I'm calling it like a a a a loss, ⁓ a very entertaining loss, like you know, back and forth. LFC trying to stay in it, but you know, like really bad defense, couple maybe a pen, like a handball pen, which would be we're we're very good at. Something like that. It's gonna be 3-2. Sonny and Bologna will have a goal each just to kind of take the pressure being. But then now the defense is gonna start falling apart. It's just one of those teams that when the defense goes, the offense shows up and vice versa. So we're gonna be more frustrated at the end of this game. Watch, watch. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Yep. Well O six three two seven is calling a draw at the best and LAFC Reef is calling a three two LAFC, so and ⁓ Space Echoes Jess says Top Golf and Druid Star are both great options. And ⁓ Chief Mikey says sunny brace. Well I will love ⁓ I will love a sunny brace. Yep, yep, man. Celso Oliveira: Wow, okay. Everybody's way more optimistic. I be I've been calling wins that go nowhere too much. Yeah, y I love it. I love all these concepts. Just to recap, you called it a tie, it was a loss, and I called it a win, it was a loss. So we we we we missed it bad. So we've been burned and now we're going loss. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: So yeah, that I'm saying three zero loss. Yeah, that means we're winning. That means we're winning. Celso Oliveira: I mean, we're totally winning and it will be a good show. ⁓ and again maybe we'll talk to you with Erik Hultstrom Section 128: We're cooked, fellas. Bruce is gonna pants MDS. Celso Oliveira: I you know the first game it looked bad. The first game didn't look competitive for us, but ⁓ all right guys we've got to get out of here. Appreciate everybody that showed up on the chat, even though I couldn't see it. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: All right. Yep. All right, keep it to it. Thursday. Thursday. If Celso's good, we'll be here Thursday and it's gonna be ⁓ David Martinez card. Otherwise it'll be Celso Oliveira: Okay, yep. It's set. It's done. Monday. Monday. Okay, the David Martinez cart is nobody wants the fucking Addy. I agree. Fuck Eddie. I'm just kidding. I like Eddie, but. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: Otherwise if we don't do Thursday, it'll be Monday, David Martinez card. But Then the Jarune scarf should be more popular than the Eddy card. Damn it. Celso Oliveira: To be fair, I think I paid a buck sixty for the steady eddy cart, but it's really sweet. I actually like it a lot because it's a fun cart. It's got like the holograms, it's got some shit. And it's a rookie cart, right? So it's got a little bit more of ⁓ you know pizzazz, I'd say. But all right. Thanks everybody. ⁓ hey, I figured out how to get the ⁓ I might go back to StreamYard. This shit's crazy. I mean I can't even get our vignettes like to roll ready. So but here it is. ⁓ your guys Fugazi, you know, our buddies, and ⁓ great music. See you later, boss. Erik Hultstrom Section 128: I love Eddie. Eddie's great, but ⁓ yeah. Alright. Later y'all.